Pull-tab lottery tickets manufactured using paper may include perforated sections (tabs) that may be removed (peeled, broken) to reveal one or more symbols initially hidden from view that indicate a corresponding prize. Scratch lottery tickets are similar, but instead use a series of layers of protective film to shield the symbols from the consumer until the film layers are removed (“scratched” off). A predetermined number of tickets may be specified for manufacture for the game (called a “deal”) and may be separated into distinct “decks.” Each deck has a finite number of associated tickets and a predetermined number of winning tickets specifying prizes of one or more various prize levels. When a uniform price for tickets of a deck is set, a selling price for each deck may be adjusted to ensure a guaranteed profit margin should each ticket in the deck be sold at the fixed ticket price. Lottery ticket decks may be manufactured (e.g., printed) and bundled for shipment at a centralized facility to be physically transported to purchasers such that display, purchase, or dissemination of the tickets by consumers can be easily performed. Stacks, strips, or rolls of tickets may be bundled to ease distribution and presentation of the tickets to consumers via store display, automated vending machines, hand-to-hand sales or dissemination, or any other propagating method. Once the tickets are dispensed to consumers, revealing of the hidden symbols may occur (by removal of the perforated/filmed sections) and the corresponding prize can be ascertained. Winning tickets may be redeemed (e.g., at a kiosk or retail shop) to collect or register for the corresponding prize.
The manufacturing and distribution method for lottery tickets detailed above has a number of important drawbacks. In order to sell lottery tickets, a retailer must have the lottery tickets in inventory and accessible, often requiring stockpiling lottery tickets, continued necessity for replenishment of depleted ticket decks, and unnecessary exposure to ticket theft, illegal inspection, and collusion.
A purely electronically-based scratch-based lottery or pull-tab ticket system also has drawbacks, including consumer-perceived result predisposition. Further, certain “electronic facsimiles” of lottery games may not be considered compliant with the definition of Class II gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act or may not be permissible under state lottery law. This may cause retailers or vending site operators to be required to negotiate the payment of fees with one or more jurisdictions prior to implementing such lottery games in an electronic form. The resultant decrease in revenue for a gaming provider is highly undesirable.
Accordingly, there is a need for a lottery ticket manufacturing and distribution system and method which overcomes one or more of these and other disadvantages associated with the prior art.